A few weeks ago, nugget and I watched an episode of Good Eats on tea. It explained about different grades of tea and why teabags are evil. I found the episode interesting, but I think it really piqued Nugget's interest. He did some browsing online, and came upon Adagio Teas. On Christmas day, he ordered the black tea starter set, as well as the green and herbal samplers.

The shipment arrived Friday, and we've been playing around with teas ever since. The ingenuiTEA is very easy to use, and makes using the loose tea simple. All of the teas we've tried so far we've had without sugar or milk. The English Breakfast was our first try, and we think we left it brewing a bit too long - it was too bitter for my tastes. Next came White Monkey, a green tea. I really enjoyed it - it was sweet and flavorful, without too much of a grassy taste. The first herbal we tried was Berry Blues, and though it smelled absolutely wonderful, the taste was more tart than I could have wished.

I had Irish Breakfast with dinner last night, and I think I've determined that I do not like black teas, at least not "neat." The flavor is too strong, and though it's not quite bitter, it's not really what I want. Cream and sugar may help, but I'd rather just drink a green tea. Two of the other greens I've tried were Gunpowder and Sencha Overture. Neither were among my favorites - the gunpowder seemed to have flavors opposite of White Monkey, and the Sencha Overture had a very strong grassy taste. Gunpowder is fun to brew, though, with the leaves unfurling. Nugget also tried Foxtrot, which I haven't yet tried.

I already have a list of teas I'd like to try and that I'd order again. I'm really enjoying exploring the teas and watching them brew.

Those two breakfast teas are blended to be bitter so that when you add milk it offsets the flavor (as you guessed). There are lots of nice black tea blends besides the those two. For instance, earl grey has bergamot -- an aromatic. Twinings has a nice one called Prince of Wales, which is really mild. It has a smokey flavor that lots of of people don't like. If you do like it, try Lapsang Souchong -- it's like drinking a campfire.

My last recommendation is Sadaf tea in the green box, which you can get at any middle eastern deli. It is black tea with cardamom -- another aromatic. It is an Iranian tea kind of similar to Earl Gray, but extra delicious. :)